Adjustably mounted platform for windrowers



Dec. 15, 1953 D. L. BEASLEY ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PLATFORM FOR WINDROWERS Filed Feb. 18, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 J6 F u 1 LL 3 INVENTOR.

Dec. 15, 1953 D. BEASLEY ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PLATFORM FOR WINDROWERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. .18, 1950 Dec. 15, 1953 D. BEASLEY ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PLATFORM FOR WINDROWERS FiledFeb. 1a, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

15, 1953 D. L. BEASLEY 2,662,362

ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PLATFORM FOR WINDROWERS Filed Feb. 18, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 and a sheet metal wall 2|. The horizontal bed portion 9a of the header is defined by an angle iron frame structure including a transversely extending front angle member 2 5 and longitudinali extending end angle members 28. The header S is supported on support arms 57 by virtue of pivoted connections of the bottom ends of support arms ii to the medial portions of the frame angles 28, as by pins Ila.

A cutter bar 8 is mounted in conventional fashion along the front edge of the bed portion 9a of the header ii and a horizontally extending belt or draper conveyor 22 is mounted along such bed portion, having its front edge immediately rearwardly of the cutter bar 8 and being trained over suitable rollers 23, The ends of the inner roller 23 are respectively journaled in rear wall 2| and the horizontal frame angle 24. The outer roller 23, Figure 4, is longitudinally adjustable for tensioning of the draper. outer roller passes through a longitudinal transverse slot 24a in frame angle 24 and is journaled in a bearing plate 24b secured by bolts 24c for longitudinal slidable adjustment. The other end of inner roller 23 likewise passes through a slotted hole Zla in rear plate 2! and such end is journaled in a bracket 2i?) secured to the wall 2! by bolts (not shown). Hence, all vegetation cut by the cutter bar ii falls to the draper conveyor 22 and is carried transversely to one end of the header 9 for deposit on the ground in a windrow. In this instance, the draper conveyor 22 is moved in such a direction as to deposit the cut vegeta tion on the end of the header 9 which is adjacent to the draft frame I l.

The draper conveyor 22 extends a substantial distance past the end of the cutter bar 24 towards the draft frame i4 and an upstanding frame structure 25 supports a vertical wall 28 in front of this laterally projecting portion of the draper conveyor 22. A crank 21 is journaled in bearings 28 across the top of the draft frame elements lea. Crank Z'i has a crank arm portion 21a overlying the adjacent end of the header 9 and this arm is resiliently connected to the upstanding frame structure '25 so that the angular position of crank 2'} determines the height of the header 9. The resilient connection of crank arm 21 a to upstanding frame structure 25 may conveniently comprise .an angle bracket 29 rigidly secured to the free end of the crank arm 27 and apertured to receive a connecting rod 38 which has a bent end 300. engaged in a suitable apertured bracket 25a welded to upstanding frame structure 25. Transverse stop pins 3% are inserted in connecting rod l 38 on opposite sides of the position of the bracket 29 and compression springs 32 are mounted respectively between the stop pins 301) and the opposite sides of bracket 29. Hence, in all positions of vertical adjustment, the header 9 is floatingly supported by the springs 32.

The angular position of the crank 2'1 may be conveniently adjusted from the operators seat on the tractor by means of an elongated shaft 33 having a crank 34 secured to its forward end and a universal joint 33a secured to its rear end and coupled to a worm 35 which cooperates with a sector gear 36 secured to crank 27. The forward end of adjusting shaft 33 is supported in an elevated position, convenient for grasping by the tractor operator, by a rod-like support 3'! wh-ch has its bottom end pivotally mounted to one of the draft frame elements 14a.

As the header 3 is elevated by the mechanism heretofore described, it is desirable that the cut- One end of such ter bar 8 and the draper conveyor 22 maintain approximately the same angle of inclination with respect to the ground surface in all of the vertical positions of the header. In accordance with this invention, a leveling linkage for the header is provided which comprises essentially three interconnected links. Preferably, a set of such three links is provided in cooperation with each one of the support arms ll. Referring particularly to Figure 4, the leveling linkage comprises a first link 38 having its one end pivotally connected to a mounting bracket 39 secured to main frame [0, a second link 40 having one end pivotally secured to a vertical frame angle is of the header 9 and a third link 42 having its one end pivotally secured to a medial portion of the support arm IT. The other ends of levers 38 and 40 are pivotally interconnected as indicated at 4|, while the other end of third link 42 is pivotally connected to a medial portion of second link 46 as indicated at 43. With the described linkage, it is apparent that as the header 9 is raised, it is proportionally tilted in a clockwise direction about the pivot defined by the pins Ila so as to maintain substantially the same angle of inclination of the bed portion 9a of such header throughout its range of vertical adjustment.

As is well known, it is desirable that most of the weight of the header 9 be counterbalanced so that when the header 9 rests on the ground it is urged downwardly only with sufficient force to insure that it will follow the variations of the ground contour. Also, the counterbalancing of the header 9 promotes the ease of manual adjustment of its vertical position. In accordance with this invention, a counterbalancing arrangement is provided comprising a tension spring device 43 having its one end 43a adjustably secured to a fixed bracket 44 on main frame H] as by a threaded rod 430 and its other end 43b connected in counterbalancing relationship to the header 5 as by a pair of cables 45 respectively connnected to opposite ends of a transverse bar 4%; connecting the supporting arm ll, the cables 45 being trained over pulleys 41 journaled at spaced points on main frame I0.

A reel post 48 is mounted on the inner end of the upstanding frame structure 25 of header 9 in a vertical, forwardly inclined relationship and is braced by rod tiia. A reel bearing 45 is slidably mounted on reel post 48 and conventional means are provided for detachably securing the reel bearing 49 in any selected one of a plurality of vertical positions along the reel post 48. A cantilever type reel 50 is journaled in reel bearing 49. Reel 50 is driven in timed relationship to the travel of the harvester along the ground by a belt 5! which is trained over a pulley 52 mounted on the axle 53 or one of the transport wheels !2 (Figure 7). Belt 5! drives a pulley 62 which is suitably journaled on an upstanding post 54 secured to the outside draft frame element Ma and an extensible shaft 55 and universal joints 5% connect the pulley G2 to the reel 50.

The necessary power for driving the cutter bar 8 and the draper conveyor 22 is derived from the power-take-olf shaft of the tractor through a conventional extensible shaft and universal joint connection indicated at 51 and a gear box 58 which is mounted directly on the header 9 adjacent to the windrow depositing end of the draper conveyor 22. The drive connections from the gear box 58 respectively to the draper conveyor 22 and the reciprocating knife of the cutter bar are entirely conventional and well-known and hence will not be described in further detail.

Each of the transport wheels 82 and I3 is secured to the respective bracket 1 I of the main frame it by an axle mounting unit 50, best shown in Figure 9. Axle mounting unit [it comprises a base plate portion Elia having a plurality of symmetrically disposed mounting holes 6% formed therein and a pair of depending lug portions 600 and 52d which are each apertured to receive a stub axle l which is welded or otherwise fixedly secured in the lugs tile and 5003. On the bottom of frame brackets li, a horizontal plate portion i la is formed and symmetrically disposed mounting holes (not shown) are provided in such plate portion which are so arranged as to align with the holes 6% in the wheel mounting unit 6i? in either of two 90 degree displaced positions.

It will be noted from Figure 1 that the overall transverse dimension of the harvester is substantially greater than its over-all longitudinal dimension, and this condition is even more aggravated when the harvester is constructed with a cutting bar having an effective cutting width of ten feet or greater. Obviously, the transport of such a wide implement would be very difficult. However, in accordance with this inven-- tion, the mounting brackets 6i! for the support wheels and it permits such wheels to be conveniently shifted to positions illustrated by dotted. lines in Figures 1 and 3 so as to support the entire harvester unit for transport with its greater transverse dimension aligned with the direction of movement.

Thus, the transport wheel 12 may be shifted to a 20 degree displaced position with respect to the main frame Iii merely by removing the mounting bolts 5i which secure the wheel mounting bracket Ell to the frame bracket Ii, shifting the Wheel mounting bracket iii] through 90-degrees and resecuring it to the frame bracket i! with the bolts e1.

As previously mentioned, the front end of the draft frame I is provided with a plate H; which has a plurality of symmetrically disposed holes E567, formed therein which are alignable with the holes 5th in the wheel mounting bracket 69. During field operation Of the harvester, a tongue or hitch member it is bolted to the plate l5, utilizing the aforementioned holes I505. For transport purposes, the transport wheel i3 is removed from its normal working position indicated in Figure 1 and it mounting bracket til is bolted to the plate I5 so as to dispose the wheel 53 in a position shown by the dotted lines in Figure l. Concurrently, the tongue or hitch unit It is bolted to the horizontal plate portion Ha from which the wheel 13 has been removed (Figure 8). Thus, the tractor may be connected to the tongue unit It in its new position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, and the entire implement can then be transported on the wheels [2 and i3 in their new positions indicated by the dotted lines in Figure l, and the over-all width of the implement in this transport position will not be excessive, permitting convenient travel along the highway or through farm gates.

Accordingly, it is apparent that this invention provides unusually simple, yet rugged and economically manufacturable construction for a windrow type of harvester and provides a unit not only convenient to operate, but also one which is capable of transport along existing roads and through existing farm gates.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A harvester comprising a wheel supported transverse main frame, a transversely extending header frame, a plurality of angularly shaped supports having their one ends pivoted to spaced points along said main frame and their other ends extending around and beneath said header frame and being freely pivotally attached to the underside of said header frame, means for raising and lowering said header frame relative to said main frame, and a leveling linkage for said header frame comprising a first link pivoted to said main frame, a second link pivoted between said header frame and said first link, and a third link pivoted between one of said supports and a medial portion of said second link, whereby said header frame is maintained in the same angular relationship with respect to the ground through its range of vertical movement.

2. A harvester comprising a wheel supported transverse main frame, a transversely extending header frame, a plurality of angularly shaped supports having their one ends pivoted to spaced points along said main frame and their other ends extending around and beneath said header frame and being freely pivotally attached to the underside of said header frame, means for raising and lowering said header frame relative to said main frame, and a leveling linkage associated with each of said supports, each leveling linkage comprising a first link pivoted to said main frame, a second link pivoted between said header frame and said first link, and a third link pivoted between a medial portion of the respective support and a medial portion of said second link, whereby said header frame is maintained in the same angular relationship with respect to the ground through its range of vertical movement.

DONALD L. BEASLEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,177,104 Hendricks Mar. 28, 1916 1,319,235 Messersmith Oct. 21, 1919 2,352,479 Huddle June 27, 1944 2,452,153 Ronning et al Oct. 26, 1948 2,509,357 Krause May 30, 1950 2,514,764 Herigstad July 11, 1950 2,530,668 Tallman Nov. 21, 1950 

